How Blockchain Can Help Increase The Security Of Smart Grids Posted on : May 22 - 2018

Blockchain is the new “hot” technology that promises to disrupt many industries. It gains traction at a time when “smart” electrical grid management systems are automatically diagnosing problems and emergencies, and reconfiguring responses to them. It also comes at a time when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that Russians had successfully hacked into at least one power grid in the U.S. and have been attempting to do so since 2016.

Obviously, security of smart grids is critical. And, according to Benjamin Gu, founder and chairman of Daex, blockchain technology may just hold the answer to improved security standards of interconnectivity, data exchanges and permission control. Daex is a cryptocurrency clearing solution based on distributed ledger technology that serves as a bridge connecting exchanges, and a custodian of multiple assets for users.

Two basic security concerns related to energy and smart grids

Smart grids rely on automation and remote access. And these bring with them security concerns that we are just now beginning to deal with. The potential for individual or “enemy” governments to hack into these grids is real and has already occurred.

The two security measures that must be in place are:

Authentication – The verification that someone “entering” the grid technology is who they say they are.

Authorization – The verification that someone who does enter has the authority to do what they plan to do.

Here are some early use cases that will illustrate vulnerabilities of smart grids and the promise of blockchain to prevent them.

1. Prevent hacking and malicious attacks on power grids

In the summer of 2016, researchers from the University of Oklahoma, with permission of wind farm owners, physically hacked the external locks that got them into the “control room” of turbines.

Once in, they planted a $45 piece of equipment (a Raspberry Pi), went back to their PC and launched a series of attacks that shut down that turbine. More important, they actually had access to the entire wind farm and could shut it down completely. And they were able to relay false feedback to the farm operators that prevented the hacking from discovery. While wind farms comprise a small percentage of total energy resources, this activity pointed out the potential vulnerabilities of any smart grid. View More